


surviving is a small dream to me

by towokuwusatsuwu



Series: Pride 2018: 30 Days of S.W.O.R.D. [7]
Category: HiGH&LOW: the Story of S.W.O.R.D. (TV)
Genre: Agender Character, Established Relationship, Found Family, Multi, Polyamory, Solidarity, Trans Male Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 17:17:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14878028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towokuwusatsuwu/pseuds/towokuwusatsuwu
Summary: “You’re a firecracker when you’re pissed. One of the reasons I love you.” Ice squeezes Ryu’s knee and leans in to press a wet kiss to their cheek, chuckling when Ryu daintily dabs their cheek dry with their sleeve. “Don’t be like that. You ain’t supposed to wipe kisses off.”“They’re socold,” Bernie says, wrapping his arms around himself, faux shivering then tipping Ryu a wink. “Just a joke, Ryu. Don’t let him slobber all over you.”Pearl whistles low and falls back in his seat, propping a foot up in 9’s lap without a second thought. “Man, I really thought we were gonna get to smack that dude around.”“Next time we will,” Jesse says, and Ice shoots him a look. “What? It’s no use letting people like that hang around doing whatever they want. Gotta teach ‘em a lesson, right?”“I like that idea,” 9 says softly.





	surviving is a small dream to me

Ice is tired when the stranger asks the question, eyelids threatening to droop shut at any moment while he leans against Jesse’s shoulder and listens to Bernie and Pearl arguing about something, a new song maybe. As far as Ice is concerned, he’s mentally checked out for the rest of the night and is debating the merits of asking Jesse to carry him home— maybe he can promise him a shower blowjob in the morning to make it even— when an unfamiliar voice’s question has his eyes snapping open, his fight or flight instinct activated.

Fight. It’s always fight.

“So, what are you, anyway?” The question is directed at Ryu, situated comfortably on Jesse’s other wise, one leg neatly crossed over the other.

Their dark eyes narrow just slightly at the question, their full lips pressed into a thin line as they lift their chin. “Excuse me? I think I must have misheard you.”

Jesse’s hand tightens on Ice’s thigh, a spasm of muscle, the resistance to throwing a punch.

“You don’t look like a dude or a chick. Too flat for a girl.” The man speaking holds his hands out in front of his chest and laughs, the sound high and obnoxious. Pearl and Bernie stop speaking, both of them turning to look the man up and down. “But too pretty for a boy, and your body’s not shaped right. So what the hell are you?”

Ryu’s hand twitches and Ice wonders where the sword is beneath their coat, all soft black fur that Ice wants to stretch out a hand and pet. “I’m someone you don’t want to fuck with.”

The man obviously thinks the remark is a joke and laughs louder; 9 leans forward in his seat, hands curling into fists. “Yeah, okay, sure, whatever. But what’s in your pants?”

Steel flashes beneath the light and a knife appears square between the strange’s eyes, the tip dangerously close to his skin. “This is. Do you have any more questions?”

Wood clatters against the floor as the stranger falls back in his chair, taking it down with him, scrambling away from Ryu as quickly as possible before he shoots to his feet and bolts out of the room. Ryu tucks their knife away into the folds of their coat and resumes sitting, though the agitation on their face tells Ice all he needs to know about how that interaction affected them. He climbs over Jesse’s lap and Jesse scoots over, grumbling that Ice could have  _ asked. _

“You okay, Ryu?” Ice knows Ryu can handle themself when people on the outside peek in, trying to solve the puzzle Ryu refuses to be for them. That being said, it would be irresponsible of him not to check on his datemate, make sure Ryu is comfortable and feels safe.

“It’s a very old conversation to have. I’m fine, just slightly annoyed.” Ryu huffs and tugs at their bangs with slender fingers, fixing dark strands to hide one eye. “It’s over now, Ice.”

Jesse leans around Ice, pressing up against his back in the process. “You ever want us to go in on one of those fucks, just say the word, babe. You know we’re all up for it.”

“That won’t be necessary, as I’m capable of handling myself and those who would stand against me. That being said, I might give you the opportunity just to have some entertainment.” Ryu’s lips twitch upward in a smirk and Ice breathes a sigh of relief as he slips an arm around Ryu’s shoulders, giving them a squeeze. “Stop that. I’m perfectly fine now.”

Though Ice has a talent with words, or so he’s been told, he struggles for the right thing to say in a situation just like this even though he feels like he should know the right words. “I know that. It’s just upsetting to see you have to go through that over and over.”

“It’s something we’ve all suffered at one point in time or another, so don’t over worry about it or me. I truly can take care of myself in this situation.” Ryu turns to look at him, one hand coming to touch Ice’s cheek. “It may be hypocritical of me to say such things, though, considering the last time someone bothered you, I had to be physically pulled off of him.”

Ice remembers that. Some rando in a club had gotten too close and his hands wandered too far before Ice stopped him, mind fogged over just enough by alcohol that instinct didn’t kick in until it was too late. A hand under his shirt found the binder he chanced wearing under his tank top and the argument spilled out into the parking lot where they all thought Jesse would be the bigger threat to the guy’s safety until Ryu’s sword made an unprecedented appearance.

The experience is not limited to his own experiences, or even Ryu’s. The Mighty Warriors had found each other because none of them quite fit in to what society wanted them to be. They picked up jobs here and there to afford hormones, binders, whatever they needed to feel more like themselves, to reflect the image in their minds onto their own bodies. A handful of trans people trying to make their way in a world that hardly wanted them, doing what no one else would have chosen to do, pooling their resources as they saw fit.

“You’re a firecracker when you’re pissed. One of the reasons I love you.” Ice squeezes Ryu’s knee and leans in to press a wet kiss to their cheek, chuckling when Ryu daintily dabs their cheek dry with their sleeve. “Don’t be like that. You ain’t supposed to wipe kisses off.”

“They’re so  _ cold, _ ” Bernie says, wrapping his arms around himself, faux shivering then tipping Ryu a wink. “Just a joke, Ryu. Don’t let him slobber all over you.”

Pearl whistles low and falls back in his seat, propping a foot up in 9’s lap without a second thought. “Man, I really thought we were gonna get to smack that dude around.”

“Next time we will,” Jesse says, and Ice shoots him a look. “What? It’s no use letting people like that hang around doing whatever they want. Gotta teach ‘em a lesson, right?”

“I like that idea,” 9 says softly.

The solidarity makes Ice grin. There’s never been a group of people he’s been more comfortable in than this one, made up of people who understand him in a way no one else ever has before. Music and fashion might have saved his life but the Mighty Warriors are there to offer him a hand up every time he so much as stumbles so that his life never falls into such a peril that he feels like it has to be saved. These are his people.

Ryu leans into him and Ice settles back against the couch, letting Ryu’s head fall on his shoulder, running his fingers through their soft dark hair. “If I’d gotten the bastard’s name, my father could have dealt with him. He doesn’t like people who mistreat me.”

“Good man,” Ice muses. “Dunno how my folks would have felt about all this.”

“Mine hate me, so!” Bernie finishes off his drink and slams the glass down on the table so hard Ice is surprised it doesn’t shatter in his fingers. “Ryu, tell your parents to hurry up and adopt all of us so we can all benefit from having awesome yakuza connections.”

Ryu wrinkles their nose; it’s so cute it makes Ice’s chest hurt for just a minute. “ _ I’m _ your “awesome yakuza connection” and you better not forget about that.”

“Ryu-san is so cool,” Bernie says almost dreamily and Ice rolls his eyes at the words. “Oh! It’s been like only six hours but I’m getting kind of sore, you guys wanna shield me real quick?”

The question has all of them rising to their feet, forming a protective barrier around Bernie while he pulls off his shirt, wriggling out of his binder and pulling his shirt back on. It only takes a few minutes and Bernie sits back down, humming to himself while he folds the binder up and hands it to Jesse to be tucked away into one of the many pockets hidden on his leopard coat. Pearl had sewn the pockets in himself, and Jesse had been all too happy to take up the task of keeping anything and everything they might need hidden on his person.

“Thank you!” Bernie smiles at all of them, then slumps over onto Pearl and yawns. “I’m so sleepy. I want to go home and go to bed.”

Pearl sighs and shifts so that Bernie can lay in his lap, running his fingers through Bernie’s hair. “You shouldn’t have drank so much so fast, you’re a lightweight and you get tired on us. Why don’t you doze for a bit? One of us’ll carry you home.”

“I’ll do it,” Jesse sighs, sounding the most put-upon before he grins. “You don’t weigh anything anyway, twink, it’ll be easy to carry you home.”

Bernie smiles sleepily, folding his arms beneath his head. “Jesse’s so strong and kind.”

“I try. By the way, Ryu.” Jesse twists around a little and Ice taps Ryu on the shoulder, letting them know they’ve been addressed. “I don’t mean to be nosy and you can tell me to fuck straight off if you wanna, and I ain’t gonna be mad. Know how you’ve said you ain’t really one or the other, you ain’t anything at all, right? How’d you figure that one out?”

Ryu hums, the sound vibrating against Ice’s throat. “Nothing ever resonated with me. For a long time growing up, I thought I was a man, because I never felt like a woman. But living as a man made me realize I wasn’t a man, either. I’ve only recently decided that it’s fine to be neither, or nothing. I am myself, and that is all.”

“Aye, I get that.” Jesse reaches around Ice to run his fingers through Ryu’s hair, rubbing their scalp soothingly. “That’s all that matters. That you’re you, and well, that you’re  _ ours. _ ”

There’s a tone to his voice that makes Ryu tilt their head so that Jesse’s fingers brush over their cheek like a cat seeking attention, and Ice watches fondly. He’d been there for part of Ryu’s growth and is happy to see them so settled in their own skin and own body, happy in their identity and themself. And he loves them all the more fiercely for it, and he loves Jesse for not understanding as much, but for accepting nonetheless, and trying to learn more every day.

He doesn’t know what he’d do without his datemate and his boyfriend in his life.

They clear out of the bar an hour later, Jesse hefting Bernie’s slight weight up onto his back with relative ease while Pearl half-hangs off of 9 and complains about having to walk himself. Ice hangs back for just a moment, catching Ryu by the hand and pulling them into his chest, wrapping his arms around them and squeezing tight. Ryu hesitates a moment before their arms snake around Ice’s shoulders, letting him hold them as tight as he wants.

“Sorry,” he murmurs. “Just hate seeing someone treat you like that. Kills me inside.”

Ryu hums against his cheek, then turns and kisses it. “It’s okay, Ice. I’m fine. I’m not hurt, and it takes more than a verbal confrontation— that I won, mind you— to shake me. Had I been in danger, and needed the assistance, you were all right here with me.”

“We’re always gonna be right here when you need us,” Ice reassures them.

Ryu tilts their head a bit more and presses a small, barely-there kiss to Ice’s lips. “I know that. And I will always be here for all of you. Now, let’s go home. I’m tired as well.”

They only protest a little when Ice insists they climb up on his back.


End file.
